Abstract:
The current study collates and defines the more than
1000 historical and literary figures that appear throughout 255 of Larra's
costumbrist, political and theatrical articles. These works were published
in several prominent Spanish newspapers between 1828 and 1837. This
work is divided into an Introduction, two indices, a Master listing with
brief definitions and an appendix.

First, the Introduction places Larra's lifetime and works in perspective
regarding influences. Through a series of examples I attempt to show
how the inspiration of several important writers stimulated Larra's writing
style and influenced his perspective regarding society. Also included is a
series of tables that breakdown the various characters into several
categories (i.e., writers, scientists, artists, political figures, and
miscellaneous items). Each of these groups show a breakdown of ethnic
origin and the time frame in which the figures exercised their profession.

The next two sections are indices. The first index shows which figures
appear in each article in chronological order (i.e., Index of Articles). The
second index entails an overall view of each newspaper and the figures
that appeared during specific time periods (i.e., Index of Newspapers).

The most important portion of the text is the master index which
includes a brief biography of the figure. This definition includes the
personage's date of birth and death, the ethnic background and
occupation, a brief outline of important events and, finally, in the case of
authors, a list of works. Also included is a short bibliography where
additional information can be found. At the end of each citation is a
complete listing of places where that particular figure appears throughout
Larra's articles.

The Appendix provides an additional listing of theatrical characters
that appear in Larra's critiques and indirect references to important
authors (i.e., el autor de Marcela). Also included are several articles
collected by Susan Kirkpatrick which do not appear in the edition of
Larra's works edited by Carlos Seco Serrano for the Biblioteca de autores
españoles.